General

Swinhoe's Snipe: Small to medium-sized shorebird with brown and black mottled back and wings, and white stripes on the back. White stripe on black-brown crown, white-brown face with black-brown line through eye, wider behind eye, and black-brown mark below eye. Gray-brown streaks on neck and mottling on breast, white belly. Black-brown bars on flanks. Long, straight, black-brown bill with green-yellow base. Short, rounded tail with orange-brown central feathers. Feeds on worms and insects.

Breeding and Nesting

Swinhoe's Snipe: Four to six black-olive eggs with black-brown blotches are laid in a shallow, cup-shaped nest of grass and marsh vegetation in or close to a wetland. Nest is lined with fine grass and built on the ground. It is well hidden and placed at the base of a grass tussock beneath a bush. The female incubates the eggs for 18 to 20 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Swinhoe's Snipe: Feeds on worms, insects, and small mollusks. This snipe species forages by using its long bill to probe the muddy ground of grassy wetlands and the margins of ponds. When a food item is detected, it grasps it with its bill and pulls it out of the ground.

Vocalization

Swinhoe's Snipe: Alarm call is a loud "zhrick".

Similar Species

Common Snipe has a white trailing edge to wing and a thicker eyeline.